Alright so I finally have internet access on here again. And I finally was able to post the first chapters of this story. I hope people enjoy it, haven't gotten any kind of response, haven't even seen it actually be posted in the category yet. Oh well by the time I finish typing this chapter I hope to have gotten a few responses. Shall we continue then.
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Recap: What's this Jing and Lina met before Lina left on her journey and then they met again after Lina had finished her story, or has she. Why was Gourry so upset by everything? I think he's going to confess!
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Lina had eventually calmed down with help from Amelia and was now laying awake on the bed in her room. She feels a breeze blow through the room and looks towards the window confused. "I don't remember leaving that open." She sits up and makes to move toward the window, but stops at seeing Jing at the end of her bed.
"You've made quite a name for yourself since we first met." He gives her his roguish grin.
At first Lina is unsure what to do or say, but at Jing's smile she frowns and throws a pillow at him. Huffing she crosses her arms and glares at him. "What do you think you're doing in here? Stealing into a young woman's room, honestly."
Jing had caught the pillow and was peeking over it at Lina as she scolded him, still smiling. Shrugging he sets the pillow down and moves towards Lina. "Well I am the Bandit King, stealing is what I do." He was right next to her by now, his face inches from hers.
Blushing Lina moves back but finds her back to the headboard. "Uh, well. That's true I suppose." Not staying flustered long she quickly changes to anger, "What do you want anyway?" SHe glares at him, but its effect seems lost in their close proximity.
Jing finds himself reaching up and brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear, "What I want..." He leans in and kisses her gently, "Is you." He looks deeply into her eyes, still smiling.
Lina looks back, speechless and blushing brightly. A knock at the door interrupts whatever she was about to say and before she realizes it Jing is gone, only the wind coming through the still open window to show for his presence.
The person at the door knocks again, "Lina. You in there? I hope I have the right room. Uh can we talk, Lina?"
Recognizing Gourry's voice Lina gets up, still blushing slightly, and answers the door. "Sure Gourry we can talk." She smiles at him and he smiles back in his usual way. After standing there for several minutes neither has said anything else. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Lina looks at Gourry expectantly, her patients beginning to wear thin.
"Uh." Gourry scratches his head and then strikes his fist against his palm as if he just remembered why he was there, knowing him that's exactly what had just happened. "Oh right." His expression changes from playful to serious, "Lina could we sit down?"
"Huh?" Surprised at his sudden change in mood she nods, "Sure." She moves towards the bed, the only place in the fairly bare room to sit, and sits down.
Gourry looks at the bed slightly unsure but sits beside her anyway, after closing the door.
"So what's this about?"
"Uh," Gourry looks at the wall across from him, "Lina, we've known each other for several years now. Faced a lot of hard things side by side."
"Yes."
"Well," He turns and looks her in the eye, "Lina, it's taken me a while to figure it out, but from the moment I met you..." He pauses and Lina looks at him expectantly, he gulps. "Lina, I... I love you." He looks at her expectantly, waiting for some kind of response.
At first Lina freezes, but after a moment she smiles back at him, "I love you too Gourry. You're like a big brother to me." She finished while looking at the wall across from them, still smiling happily.
Gourry had been ecstatic when Lina had first responded, but as she continued his face, and his heart, fell. He clenched his fist at his side, shaking at the rejection he had not been expecting. In the blink of an eye he has Lina pinned beneath him as he kneels over her.
Surprise and slight fear at his actions flashing across Lina's face at his sudden action. "Gourry." She looks up at his surprisingly angry face, fear and anger warring on her face. "Gourry! What's the matter with you?"
"I love you!" And before she can respond Gourry leans down and kisses her.
Smack!
She sound resounds throughout the room and they sit there frozen for a moment. Gourry with his head turned to the side, a large red welt on his cheek in the shape of a hand. Lina with her hand raised, having just delivered the red welt. "You... You should leave now Gourry." Even though said calmly, tears overflow from her eyes.
Slowly Gourry gets off of her and then heads for the door, his head hung so that his bangs cover his eyes. As he reaches the door and begins to open it he looks back at the girl lying in shock on the bed. He almost says something but turns back to the door and leaves instead. Closing the door behind him.
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Gourry enters into the common area of the suite that he and Zelgadis are staying in. Zelgadis is sitting on a couch drinking coffee as he enters. "So how did it go? To be honest I wasn't expecting you to come back tonight." Looking up at the other man for the first time since he had entered Zelgadis saw the state of his swordsman friend, he is shocked at what he sees. Head hung in shame, a red welt on his cheek and looking the picture of utter defeat. This was not the way Zelgadis had expected Gourry to return. "What happened?"
"Like a brother..." Gourry drags his feet over to the couch opposite Zelgadis and collapses onto it. Slumping forward he buries his face in his hands. "I, I think I may have gone to far..."
Confused by what the swordsman was saying Zelgadis sets down his drink. "What happened Gourry? What did you do?"
"I almost forced her. How can I call myself her guardian if I can't even protect her from myself."
Beginning to see what happened, Zelgadis looks at his friend with compassion. "We all make mistakes Gourry..."
Before Zelgadis can say more Gourry looks up at him, eyes filled with anger, "I pushed her down and kissed her after she rejected me Zel. That's not just a mistake you make like that." His eyes fill with self loathing, "I scared her." He goes back to having his face buried in his hands. "I really am an idiot."
"I can't deny that my friend." He pats the swordsman on the shoulder sympathetically.
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Ok that was supposed to be where chapter 1 ended. I know, I was so mean to Gourry. I really do love the Lina/Gourry pairing but its just not for this story. Sorry to anyone that thought I was going that way. And sorry Gourry, I was a little ruff on you here as well, maybe more so than I originally planned. Well there is still more so keep reading.
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The next day the group ate breakfast in silence and for once there was no fighting over food. Amelia looked between Lina and Gourry with confusion and then looked to Zelgadis who shook his head at her unspoken question. After only eating a few plates of food Lina stopped and pushed back to stand. "We should head out as soon as we're ready. The lord informed me about a rumor he heard about a legendary spring said to cure all ailments and magical effects. I thought you might be interested in it Zel."
Zelgadis looks up at Lina and then glances at Gourry, "Sounds like a good idea. Thank you."
Lina nods and heads to her room.
Zelgadis watches her leave and then turns to Gourry while setting down his coffee. "That could have gone worse."
Gourry had barely touched his food. "She ignored me. How could it have been worse?"
Zelgadis raises an eyebrow at him. "She could have FIreballed you."
Gourry slumps further into his seat.
"Mr. Zelgadis, what happened between Ms. Lina and Mr. Gourry?" Amelia looks between the two men. Gourry seems to become even more distraught at her question, while Zelgadis sighs and turns towards her.
"Last night Gourry told Lina how he felt about her."
Amelia brightens up at hearing this, "Really, that's wonderful Mr. Gourry." One look at Gourry, steals her thunder as the swordsman looked like a man that had just lost everything dear to him. She looks to Zelgadis for an answer.
"It didn't go well." Zelgadis gets up and walks over to Gourry's side. "Come on Gourry, we need to get ready to head out." Gourry looks up at him as if to protest but Zelgadis steels his face, "Gourry, she never said you weren't welcome to come and you are still her guardian. I think she just needs some time to work through this. Lina isn't the type to hold a grudge. Take that fruitcake priest for example."
Gourry looks up at Zelgadis slightly upset, "Great, I'm no better than Xellos."
Amelia comes in between the two men with a serious look on her face. "Mr. Gourry if you think you did something wrong then you should apologize to Ms. Lina. And even if you didn't do anything wrong then you should talk to her and let her know you're ok with just being friends."
Gourry looks up at Amelia, his gloomy appearance brightening slightly, "Thanks Amelia. You're right I, I should apologize." Gourry gets up and and heads towards his room to prepare for their journey, leaving Amelia and Zelgadis at the table.
"Mr. Zelgadis, how badly did he screw up?" Amelia turns and looks up at her stony companion for an answer.
Zelgadis sighs deeply and watches after Gourry, "Royally." Amelia winces at the answer. "I think Lina will forgive him though. I'm more concerned about Gourry forgiving himself."
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By midday the four were back out on the open road traveling in search of the spring that Lina had heard rumor of. Lina seemed to be back to her normal self and leading the group. Gourry however still seemed to be upset and was hanging back at the rear of the party. He watched Lina forlornly, hoping for a chance to approach her and make his apology.
"Let's stop here for lunch. I'm famished." Lina heads off the road and into the forest. "I'll be back in a bit with some fish. Get a fire started." Her friends watch her disappear into the forest with some surprise.
"So... It seems she's back to normal." Zelgadis moves off the road and begins to clear an area for the fire. "Gourry, why don't you go help Lina with the fish. Amelia and I can handle the fire." He gives Gourry a pointed look to stop him from arguing.
Gourry takes off after Lina.
"Are you sure that's a good idea Mr. Zelgadis? Letting them be alone together?" Amelia looks to Zelgadis as he begins to gather firewood.
"No, but he needs a chance to apologize. This a s good a chance as any."
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Smiling Lina makes her way to a stream and crosses it, continuing past. Back at the road she had seen the gleam of metal in the trees just off the road just before making her announcement about lunch. Knowing exactly who it was she called for lunch and gone off on her own with the excuse that she was getting fish. She comes out into a clearing with a slight rise and a large oak tree at the top. Sitting on the lowest branch of the tree was Jing, smiling happily at her arrival.
"You made it." Jing hops down and strides towards her.
Lina shakes her head and walks past him to sit under the tree Jing had been sitting in. "Thanks for the tip about the spring. It will really help Zel."
Jing shrugs and sits next to Lina, "No thanks necessary. He's your friend, I'm sure you would have heard about it eventually."
Smirking, Lina bumps him with her shoulder, "Not like you to be so modest. So where's Kir?"
Jing lieans back on his hands and looks up, "Kir said he wanted to let us have some time alone."
Laughing Lina leans on his shoulder, "I can't stay long though I still need to get the fish I told them I was getting for lunch." Jing joins her in laughing.
Meanwhile Gourry had been walking through the forest and had come across the stream, but saw no sign of Lina. Frowning he goes in search of her and after a while hears her laughing. He moves in the direction of her laughter and enters the clearing and sees her laughing with Jing. He clenches his hand into a tight fist, shaking with anger, his bangs concealing his eyes. Turning abruptly he heads back into the forest.
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Lina came out of the forest carrying several fish and smiling happily. "I'm back."
Sitting around the fire already eating the fish that Gourry had brought back. Gourry glared at the fish he was eating.
"Uh, I guess I had more trouble getting fish than I thought." Zelgadis had already set down the fish he was eating and was staring at her. "What, do I have something on my face?"
"Lina, why did you want to stop for lunch?" Amelia watches Lina from next to Zelgadis.
"Uh, well, I was hungry." Lina looks between them nervously and then looks at Gourry in hopes of getting some back up from him. She's surprised when she sees him throw down what was left of the fish he is eating and stands up angrily. He sends an angry and hurt look at Lina before walking off. "Gourry! Hey." She moves to follow him but Zelgadis's hand around her wrist stops her.
"Lina, Gourry followed you when you went to get the fish. He told us about your little rendezvous with the Bandit King."
"Ms. Lina how could you?" Amelia looks up at Lina with tears in her eyes.
"Ah, Uh, Amelia come on. It's not that serious." She looks between them nervously. "It's not that serious."
"Lina when that guy first showed up you were trying to capture him or fry him with a Fireball. Now you're suddenly best of friends." Zelgadis looks her straight in the eye. "It is serious Lina, because you know how Gourry feels about you and you're rubbing it in his face that you rejected him."
Lina yanks her arm from Zelgadis's grip angrily. "I don;t see why my private life is suddenly up for public discussion, but I told Gourry that he's like a brother to me. I meant it when I said it to him also. Gourry's the one that pushed me down and went to far!" Lina glares at Zelgadis, breathing heavily.
Amelia looks shocked at what Lina had just shared and looks up at Zelgadis, "Mr. Zelgadis, did you know that Mr. Gourry had done that?"
Zelgadis closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before replying. "I had an idea. I hadn't realized he'd gone that far though."
Lina takes a deep breath and tries to calm herself down, "I didn't mean to rub it in his face. I didn't want to hurt him which is why I didn't tell you where I was really going."
"Ms. Lina..."
"I'm sorry that I got on your case about this. I guess it's more my fault for asking Gourry to go after you in the first place." Zelgadis turns to sit down by the fire.
"Zel?" Lina and Amelia move over and stand across from him.
"I sort of told Gourry to go and confess and then thought that if he apologized he might be able to make up for whatever he had done last night."
Amelia kneels next to Zelgadis. "Mr. Zelgadis, you didn't do anything wrong. You were just trying to help."
Zelgadis looks over at Amelia and then up at Lina, "Amelia's right Zel, it's not your fault. Regardless of your actions I still would have met with Jing. I needed to thank him."
"Thank him?"
"For what?"
"Well, he's sort of the one that told me about the spring that might be able to cure you Zel. I couldn't just not say thank you."
Zelgadis and Amelia both look at her, shocked.
"Well I guess he's not as bad as I thought."
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Well I'm sorry to all those fans of Gourry. I sort of turning him into the bad guy here aren't I. I love Gourry, he's awesome, but it makes sense that he'd be a little ticked off after all he's gone through for her that he might be a little upset about what's going on. Uh anyway please review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
